Rail-bond.



W. B. CLEVELAND;

RAIL BOND.

Patented May 31, 1910.

pm; a

Wi/zzesse-y WILLIAM: B." CLEVELAND,

or c'LnvnLAND, onto,

ASSIGhTOR' TO THE ELECTRIC RAIL- WAY IMPEO'VEKENT COMBANY, OF QLEVEEAND, GHIO, CORPORATION OF OHIO.

earn-noun.

Specification of Letteflzlatent.

Application and Kay 2, 190a: seriarno. 430,498.

To all whom'vlt may concern:

Be it known that I, Wnzmnn -B. (have LAND, a citizen of the United'States, resldent of Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and" useful Improvement in Rail-Bonds, of which the following is a specification, the princlple of the invention bein herein explained and the'best mode in whic I have contemplated applying that principle, so as to dlstmgulsh it om other inventions.

for electrically connecting'the adjacent ends of contiguous rails or like conductors.

The object of the invention is. the lprovi sion of a bond that aside from being a apted to elfect such connection in an elficient and durable manner, will be at the same time simple and compact in manufacture and also comprehend in its structure allthe materials particularly pointed out in the claims.

The annexed drawing and the following description set forth in detail certain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawing: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a rail bond in which has been incor orated my several improvements,.one en or terminal portion of such bond being represented as partially stripped of certain elements normally appended thereto; Fig. 2 represents a sheet of cementing material constitutin one of these elements; Fig. 3 represents a c ip, preferably composed of like material, for attaching a carbon block, separately shown in Fig. 4:, to the rear of the contact face to such terminal portion;

and Fi 5 represents a transverse cross section 0 the bond taken on the line 5-5, Fig. 1.

' As has been implied in the statement of the objects soufght to be obtained by this in vention, one 0 these in the particular bond in hand is the inclusion in the bond structure of a suitable resistance material for generating the heatto weld or The present invention relates to rail-bonds I material viz. copper,

braze, to the rail or other object that it is desired to electrically connect. I accordingly aflix to the rear face of'the respective terminal 'ortions A of, the bond A small oblong locks B of carbon, Fig. 4, such blocks being held in lace with the. necessary security by means of clips B, Fi 3, that wh n in posit'ion inclose them on t ree sides and overlap the front or contact face of the said terminal portions A. o

ClipsB" are desirably composed of suitable cementing material, that, where the bonds are to be brazed, will of course be brass. Across the contact faces of the terminal ortions A are m0reover secured sheets 2 of like material that are corrugated, preferably longitudinally, as at b, so as to decrease the contact area thereof and also admit, if desired, of the securing there to of. the necessary flux for the brazing operation. These sheets of braze are preterably in the form of clips wrapped about such terminal portions so as to substantially inclose the same and be fixedly held in place theneon; the carbon holders overlapping these braze cli s as will clearly appear by observation 0 the completely assembled terminal illustrated at the left of Fig. 1. The'particular type of bond A illustrated is one now largely favored in operations of thiskind and consists of a narrow fiat strand a, usually of copper, wound upon itself a plurality of times to form a laminated strip bent to. provide the terminal portions A already referred to and an intermediate extensible body portion AZ. I have found that while clips 'of cementing material, as of brazeor solder, serve initially to hold the strands entering into the terminal portion A of the bond closely togethemwhen such sheets begin to melt the strands of the bond tend to spread more or less apart, which is objectionable both because a solid, homogeneous, terminal or head will not be formed, and because the strands thus separated, by being flattened down under the pressure of the electrode through which the current is supplied forthe welding or brazing operation, have their crosssectional area de creased. I accordingly provide supple mentary clips B preferably of the same as that of which the bond itself is composed, these supplementary Patented. Ma 31-, 19-10.

as the case may be, the bond terminal i equally efficacious where the solder is apducted, remain free.

rail of any strain whatever.

bondis by this means measurably prolonged.

shown and described in a attaching gethgr to form the terminal portions of the clips being located adjacent to the inner edges of .the contact faces of the respective terminal portions A. The employment of clips B, it will be understood, is not necessarily dependent upon the use of soldersheets and resistance blocks of carbon of the sort above described, since such clips will be plied in any of the several approved fashions now prevailing, or where the carbon block forms a part of the electrode and not of the bond terminal at all. Nothing further need be said to point out the usefulness of such supplementary clips in retaining the strands of the bond together even pending the fusion of the outer,ends' of the latter. Attention should be called,- however, to the further function performed by the clips, after the bond has been afiixed, such function being of even greater consequence than the one justconsidered. By reason of their location adjacent to the inner edges of the contact faces of the terminal portions of the bond, the corresponding edges of the clips are exposed to the welding heat developed in such portions and become fused therewith; the non -adjacent edges, on the contrary, when the welding operation is properly con- The result is that the clips permanently inclose the strands entering into the terminals of the bond, and confine the movement of such strands in such fashion as practically to relieve the points of actual attachment of such strands to the The use of a block of any resistance material directly attached to the terminal of the bond I do not herein set up as broadly new, one form of such construction being co-pending ap-' plication of Albert B. Herrick,- filed April 19, 1905, Serial No. 256,439. I'should call attention, however, to the simplicity of the means herein utilized to secure such block in place, also to the convenient mode of the sheet of cementing material to the contact face of the terminal, permitting not only of the ready assembling of the bond in the shop in the course of manufacture, but also lending itself to convenient use when being applied in the field.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein dlsclosed, pro vided the means stated by any one of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention 1. As a new article of manufacture, a railbond comprising a plurality of strands, and clips securing the ends of said strands toand an The life of. a

bond, said clips extending inwardly beyond the inner ends of the faces of such terminal.

tact with the rail.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a railbond comprisin a flat copper strand wounl upon itself a p urality of times to form a laminated strip, and clips of the same material secured to the termmal portions ofsaid strip to bind the component strands together, said clips extending inwardly beyond the inner ends of the faces of such terminal portions designed to contact with the rail.

bond

comprising a"plurality of strands wound together to form terminal portions intermediate body portion, sheets of cementing material secured across the contact faces of such terminal portions, said sheets being in the form of clips wrapped about such portions so' as to be frictionally held in place, and clips of the same material as said bond secured to suchterminal portions adjacent'to the corresponding clipsof cementing material and servin to bind-said .strands together irrespective o the latter.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a railbond comprising a flat copper strand As a new article of manufacture, a railwound upon itself a plurality of times to form a laminated strip, material secured across the contact faces of the terminal portions of said strip, said sheets being in the form of clips wrapped about such portions so as to substantially in close the same and be frietionally held in place, and clips of the same material as said bond secured to such terminal portions adjacent to the corresponding clips of cementsheets of cementing ing material and serving to bind the compo-' nent strands in such portions together irrespective of said latter clips.

As a new article of manufacture, a railbond comprising an intermediate body portion and terminal portions designedto be affixed to the rail, blocks of high resistance material disposed to the rear of the contact faces of such terminal portions, and clips securing said blocks in'place.

7. As a new article bond comprising an intermediate body portion and terminal portions designed to be afiixed to the rail, carbon blocks secured to the rear of the contact faces of such terminal portions, and clips of cementing material securinisaid blocks in place.

8. s a new article of manufacture, a railbond comprising a plurality of manufacture, a railof strands 959mg Y bound together to form terminal portions and an intermediate body portion, sheets of cementingmaterial secured across the contact faces of such terminal portions, blocks high resistance material disposed to the rear of such terminal portions and clips of cementing material partially overlapping aforesaid sheets and securing said blocks in place.

10 t 9. As a new article of manufacture, a railibond comprising a fiat copper strand Wound ,upon itself a plurality of times to form a lami'natedstrip, clips of the same material secured to the terminal portions of said strip to bind the component strands together, said clips extending inwardly beyond the inner ends of the faces of such terminal portions designed to contact with the rail sheets of braze secured across such faces, carbon blocks disposed to the rear of such faces, and clips of hraze partially overlapping said sheets and securing said blocks in place.

Signed-by me this 30th day of April,19()8.

WlLLIAM B. CLEVELAND.

Attested by E. R. Rom), J N0. F. QBERLIN. 

